Arrest Made in Beating Death of Housewives Fiancé

A man has been arrested in connection with the beating death of Ashley Jewell, the fiancé of Kandi Burruss, a castmember of Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta

Homicide detectives arrested the suspect, Fredrick Richardson, who has been charged with voluntary manslaughter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Jewell, 34, known as A.J., appeared regularly on the hit reality show, often clashing with Burruss’s mother. He died of massive head injuries sustained while in a fight in the parking lot of an Atlanta strip bar called the Body Tap Club.

“Kandi is devastated as she is also mourning the death of her uncle, Ralph Leslie, and is attending his funeral today,” TreMedia said in a statement on behalf of the reality star Saturday. “She has no statement to make at this time and asks for privacy. There are no final details on the death of AJ.”

Richardson was hospitalized with injuries he received during in the altercation, but will be jailed once he’s released by medical staff.

Authorities are “trying to figure out [what happened],” Atlanta police spokesman Officer James Polite told the newspaper. “We had a pretty good number of witnesses that are being cooperative.”

According to police, Jewell worked at the club but he did not know in what capacity.

Burruss reacted to the death with the following messages on her Twitter page:

• im just in one of those moods where i dont wanna talk, i dont wanna b held & told its gonna b ok. i just wanna cry myself 2 sleep, alone.

• I could never n a million years imagine this happening. please pray for AJ’s children. that’s who im the most concerned 4.

Burruss’s publicist Lisa Nelson told the Atlanta TV station that Burruss, 33, a singer-songwriter who recorded with the band Xscape and worked with TLC and Mariah Carey, was “stunned and speechless” when told the news.